Stormwater plume detection by MODIS imagery in the southern California coastal ocean

Stormwater plumes in the southern California coastal ocean were detected by MODIS-Aqua satellite imagery and compared to ship-based data on surface salinity and fecal indicator bacterial (FIB) counts collected during the Bight'03 Regional Water Quality Program surveys in February–March of 2004 and 2005. MODIS imagery was processed using a combined near-infrared/shortwave-infrared (NIR-SWIR) atmospheric correction method, which substantially improved normalized water-leaving radiation (nLw) optical spectra in coastal waters with high turbidity. Plumes were detected using a minimum-distance supervised classification method based on nLw spectra averaged within the training areas, defined as circular zones of 1.5–5.0-km radii around field stations with a surface salinity of S < 32.0 (“plume”) and S > 33.0 (“ocean”). The plume optical signatures (i.e., the nLw differences between “plume” and “ocean”) were most evident during the first 2 days after the rainstorms. To assess the accuracy of plume detection, stations were classified into “plume” and “ocean” using two criteria: (1) “plume” included the stations with salinity below a certain threshold estimated from the maximum accuracy of plume detection; and (2) FIB counts in “plume” exceeded the California State Water Board standards. The salinity threshold between “plume” and “ocean” was estimated as 32.2. The total accuracy of plume detection in terms of surface salinity was not high (68% on average), seemingly because of imperfect correlation between plume salinity and ocean color. The accuracy of plume detection in terms of FIB exceedances was even lower (64% on average), resulting from low correlation between ocean color and bacterial contamination. Nevertheless, satellite imagery was shown to be a useful tool for the estimation of the extent of potentially polluted plumes, which was hardly achievable by direct sampling methods (in particular, because the grids of ship-based stations covered only small parts of the plumes detected via synoptic MODIS imagery). In most southern California coastal areas, the zones of bacterial contamination were much smaller than the areas of turbid plumes; an exception was the plume of the Tijuana River, where the zone of bacterial contamination was comparable with the zone of plume detected by ocean color.     

Searching for the brightest stars in galaxies outside the Local Group

This paper introduces a technique for searching for bright massive stars in galaxies beyond the Local Group.To search for massive stars,we processed the results of stellar photometry from the Hubble Space Telescope(HST) images using the DAOPHOT and DOLPHOT packages.The results of such searches are demonstrated with examples of the galaxies DDO 68,M94 and NGC 1672.In the galaxy DDO 68,the LBV star changes its brightness,and massive stars in M94 can be identified by excess in the Ha band.For the galaxy NGC 1672,we measure the distance for the first time by the TRGB method,which enabled determining the luminosities of the brightest stars,likely hypergiants,in the young star formation region.So far,we have performed stellar photometry on HST images of 320 northern sky galaxies located at a distance less than 12 Mpc.This allowed us to identify 53 galaxies with probable hypergiants.Further photometric and spectral observations of these galaxies are planned to search for massive stars.     

Mesozoic–Tertiary structural evolution of an extensional gneiss dome—the Kesebir–Kardamos dome, eastern Rhodope (Bulgaria–Greece)

The tectonic evolution of the Rhodope massif involves Mid-Cretaceous contractional deformation and protracted Oligocene and Miocene extension. We present structural, kinematic and strain data on the Kesebir–Kardamos dome in eastern Rhodope, which document early Tertiary extension. The dome consists of three superposed crustal units bounded by a low-angle NNE-dipping detachment on its northern flank in Bulgaria. The detachment separates footwall gneiss and migmatite in a lower unit from intermediate metamorphic and overlying upper sedimentary units in the hanging wall. The high-grade metamorphic rocks of the footwall have recorded isothermal decompression. Direct juxtaposition of the sedimentary unit onto footwall rocks is due to local extensional omission of the intermediate unit. Structural analysis and deformational/metamorphic relationships give evidence for several events. The earliest event corresponds to top-to-the SSE ductile shearing within the intermediate unit, interpreted as reflecting Mid-Late Cretaceous crustal thickening and nappe stacking. Late Cretaceous–Palaeocene/Eocene late-tectonic to post-tectonic granitoids that intruded into the intermediate unit between 70 and 53 Ma constrain at least pre-latest Late Cretaceous age for the crustal-stacking event. Subsequent extension-related deformation caused pervasive mylonitisation of the footwall, with top-to-the NNE ductile, then brittle shear. Ductile flow was dominated by non-coaxial deformation, indicated by quartz c-axis fabrics, but was nearly coaxial in the dome core. Latest events relate to brittle faulting that accommodated extension at shallow crustal levels on high-angle normal faults and additional movement along strike-slip faults. Radiometric and stratigraphic constraints bracket the ductile, then brittle, extensional events at the Kesebir–Kardamos dome between 55 and 35 Ma. Extension began in Paleocene–early Eocene time and displacement on the detachment led to unroofing of the intermediate unit, which supplied material for the syn-detachment deposits in supra-detachment basin. Subsequent cooling and exhumation of the footwall unit from beneath the detachment occurred between 42 and 37 Ma as indicated by mica cooling ages in footwall rocks, and extension proceeded at brittle levels with high-angle faulting constrained at 35 Ma by the age of hydrothermal adularia crystallized in open spaces created along the faults. This was followed by Late Eocene–Oligocene post-detachment overlap successions and volcanic activity. Crustal extension described herein is contemporaneous with the closure of the Vardar Ocean to the southwest. It has accommodated an earlier hinterland-directed unroofing of the Rhodope nappe complex, and may be pre-cursor of, and/or make a transition to the Aegean back-arc extension that further contributed to its exhumation during the Late Miocene. This study underlines the importance of crustal extension at the scale of the Rhodope massif, in particular, in the eastern Rhodope region, as it recognizes an early Tertiary extension that should be considered in future tectonic models of the Rhodope and north Aegean regions.     

西天山金铜多金属重要成矿类型、成矿环境及找矿潜力

西天山跨乌兹别克斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、哈萨克斯坦南部和中国新疆西天山,东西绵延2500 km,是"亚洲金腰带"核心地带,金铜铅锌矿产优势明显,中国新疆西天山金铜铅锌重大找矿发现令人期待。通过广泛深入的文献调研和较全面的地质矿产调查,论文针对重要成矿类型、成矿环境和找矿潜力的研究表明,西天山金铜铅锌成矿重要类型是造山型金矿、斑岩型金铜矿、SEDEX型和砂岩型铅锌矿等。造山型金矿形成于古生代俯冲增生和碰撞造山两类地质环境,斑岩型金铜矿形成于古生代不同时期的成熟岛弧环境,SEDEX型铅锌矿在新元古代陆缘盆地富集,砂岩型铅锌矿形成于中—新生代山前盆地。西天山金铜铅锌成矿类型和环境优越,找矿潜力巨大,新疆西天山有望实现金铜铅锌找矿持续重大突破。本文为西天山区域成矿研究和金铜铅锌找矿勘查提供了新的参考和引导。     

Contents Volume 89

Volume Contents

Contents Volume 89     

On the determination of the effect of horizontal ionospheric gradients on ranging errors in GNSS positioning

An alternative approach to the traditionally employed method is proposed for treating the ionospheric range errors in transionospheric propagation such as for GNSS positioning or satellite-borne SAR. It enables the effects due to horizontal gradients of electron density (as well as vertical gradients) in the ionosphere to be explicitly accounted for. By contrast with many previous treatments, where the expansion of the solution for the phase advance is represented as the series in the inverse frequency powers and the main term of the expansion corresponds to the true line-of-sight distance from the transmitter to the receiver, in the alternative technique the zero-order term is the rigorous solution for a spherically layered ionosphere with any given vertical electron density profile. The first-order term represents the effects due to the horizontal gradients of the electron density of the ionosphere, and the second-order correction appears to be negligibly small for any reasonable parameters of the path of propagation and its geometry for VHF/UHF frequencies. Additionally, an “effective” spherically symmetric model of the ionosphere has been introduced, which accounts for the major contribution of the horizontal gradients of the ionosphere and provides very high accuracy in calculations of the phase advance.     

Petrology, geochemistry and geodynamic implications of Jurassic island arc magmatism as revealed by mafic volcanic rocks in the Mesozoic low-grade sequence, eastern Rhodope, Bulgaria

In the eastern Bulgarian Rhodope, mafic extrusive rocks and underlying greenschists are found in the Mesozoic low-grade unit, which represents the northern extension of similar sequences including the Evros ophiolites in Thrace (Greece). Both rock types define a suite of low-Ti tholeiitic basalts to transitional boninitic basaltic andesites and andesites and associated metapyroclastites (greenschists), intruded at its base by diorite dikes of a boninitic affinity. Mafic lavas and greenschists display large ion lithophile element (LILE) enrichment relative to high-field strength elements (HFSE), flat REE patterns of a slight light REE depletion, a strong island arc tholeiite (IAT) and weak MORB-like signature. All these rocks are characterized by negative Nb anomalies ascribed to arc lavas. They have positive Nd_i values in the range of + 4.87 to + 6.09, approaching the lower limit of MORB-like source, and relatively high (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (15.57–15.663) at low (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (18.13–18.54) ratios. The Nd isotopic compositions coupled with trace element data imply a dominantly depleted MORB-like mantle source and a contribution of subduction modified LILE-enriched component derived from the mantle wedge. The diorite dike has a low Nd_i value of − 2.61 and is slightly more Pb radiogenic (²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (15.64) and (²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb)_i (18.56), respectively, reflecting crustal contamination. Petrologic and geochemical data indicate that the greenschists and mafic extrusive rocks represent a magmatic assemblage formed in an island arc setting. The magmatic suite is interpreted as representing an island arc–accretionary complex related to the southward subduction of the Meliata–Maliac ocean under the supra-subduction back-arc Vardar ocean/island arc system. Magmatic activity appears to have initiated in the north during the inception of the island arc system by the Early–Middle Jurassic time in the eastern Rhodope that most likely graded to back-arc spreading southwards as represented by the Late Jurassic MORB-type Samothraki Island ophiolites. This tectonic scenario is further constrained by paleotectonic reconstructions. The arc–trench system collided with the Rhodope in the Late Jurassic times.     

A GIS-based modeling of snow accumulation and melt processes in the Votkinsk reservoir basin

Coupled hydrological and atmospheric modeling is an efficient method for snowmelt runoff forecast in large basins. We use short-range precipitation forecasts of mesoscale atmospheric Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model combining them with ground-based and satellite observations for modeling snow accumulation and snowmelt processes in the Votkinsk reservoir basin (184,319 km²). The method is tested during three winter seasons (2012–2015). The MODIS-based vegetation map and leaf area index data are used to calculate the snowmelt intensity and snow evaporation in the studied basin. The GIS-based snow accumulation and snowmelt modeling provides a reliable and highly detailed spatial distribution for snow water equivalent (SWE) and snow-covered areas (SCA). The modelling results are validated by comparing actual and estimated SWE and SCA data. The actual SCA results are derived from MODIS satellite data. The algorithm for assessing the SCA by MODIS data (ATBD-MOD 10) has been adapted to a forest zone. In general, the proposed method provides satisfactory results for maximum SWE calculations. The calculation accuracy is slightly degraded during snowmelt periods. The SCA data is simulated with a higher reliability than the SWE data. The differences between the simulated and actual SWE may be explained by the overestimation of the WRF-simulated total precipitation and the unrepresentativeness of the SWE measurements (snow survey).     

REE in fluid inclusions of quartz from gold deposits of north-eastern Russia

Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been used to determine rare earth element concentrations in aqueous solutions extracted from fluid inclusions. Quartz has been sampled from ores of three major types of polygenic gold hydrothermal systems of North-Eastern Russia: (1) gold-quartz-sulphide (Au-Q, Nezhdaninsk); (2) gold-antimony (Au-Sb, Sarylakh) and (3) intrusion-related gold-bismuth-siderite-polysulphide (Au-Bi-Sid, Arkachan) large deposits located in terrigenous rocks of the Verkhoyansk fold belt. The total concentration of REE in the fluid inclusions is not high (up to 52 ppm). The contribution of LREE dominates in REE balance (??LREE/??HREE=7.4?C112.1). The chondrite-normalized REE patterns of inclusion fluids for the Au-Q and Au-Bi-Sid deposits are characterized by LREE enrichment with a positive or negative Eu anomaly. REE patterns for the regenerated quartz from Au-Sb deposits are characterized by pronounced differentiation between light and heavy lanthanides in fluid inclusions. Significant total REE concentration decreasing (on 1?C2 order) from early to late stages of Nezhdaninsk and Arkachan deposits is revealed. The positive correlations of total REE concentrations with Rb, Cs, Li and B contents in fluid inclusions are shown. The REE distribution in fluid inclusions can be used as indicators of the contribution of magmatic fluid in the hydrothermal system.